Bostonia: Prof. Belkin Martinez Shares Her Experiences as a Professor, Social Worker, & Activist
In an article celebrating activism among Boston University faculty, Prof. Dawn Belkin Martinez from BU School of Social Work recounted her decades-long activist history while teaching and practicing social work. Belkin Martinez, who also serves as the School’s first associate dean of Equity & Inclusion, described protesting the Reagan administration’s involvement in Nicaragua, protecting a school in Jamaica Plain from turning into luxury condos, and her work with the Boston Liberation Health Group.
Excerpt from “BU Faculty Combine Academics and Activism—with Social Justice at the Core” by Jessica Colarossi.
‘Making the world a better place and trying to change all of the structural inequities that have a direct impact on the people social workers serve is my North Star, my moral compass,’ Belkin Martinez says. ‘I think the role of a teacher is to show stories that counter the dominant worldview, like how City Life/Vida Urbana got the Bowditch School back. When you bring those stories to light—like what Howard Zinn’s A People’s History did—people feel inspired, and it gives me hope that there’s the possibility of another world.’”